Five tracks. Five songs on your average EP, that’s all you have to impress a listener with. A potential fan. An industry bigwig. Some twat in Camden that could do with longer trousers. How do you cram everything you have: months and months of hard work, lugging equipment from venue to venue, the sacrifices, driving home from shows in the middle of the night, singing til your voice creaks…into five songs?

London quartet Strangefruit have done a belting job of packing their everything into debut EP ‘Between The Earth and Sea’. Standing on the fence somewhere in-between gothic folk and Alanis Morisette’s self-asserted indie-pop, the four-piece have launched into this stunning debut brimming with cinematic, diverse and haunting tracks that are akin to a mini movie soundtrack.

Opening track ‘Tell Me’ begins with delicate piano and a generic singer-songwriter tune before jumping into 80s riffs and 50s girl-group backing. It’s all a bit David Lynch, a bit confusing. But so enigmatic. ‘Falling’ is self-produced slow number with gentle keysand weeping guitar solo teasing gently behind Jenny Maxwell’s vocals. Strangefruit’s guitarist and vocalist Jamie Perrett and bassist Peter Perrett Jnr are the sons of Peter Perrett, singer of the iconic new wave band The Only Ones and were in the original line-up of Babyshambles. The brothers went on to form Love Minus Zero meeting singer and violinist Jenny Maxwell and starting Strangefuit.

‘Ghosts’ is a darker offering full of haunted house chords, trippy synths and ghostly vocals. Operatic expression comes in as the track develops: rhythmic, desperate, distorted. This is Strangefruit at their most powerful and captivating before heading back to the reassuring territory of ‘Slowly Drift Away’ – another ballad simple enough to showcase Jenny’s epic, expressive vocals.

‘Sea of Fog’ is the final track of the EP, our number five. Tinged this time with Americana and a delicate beat, Strangefruit have gone all gothic wild west before nodding east with deep violins and thrashing riffs, and finally morphing into something else. Imagine Lawrence of Arabia hanging out on horseback by the Rio Grande and you’re about there. Strangefruit are indeed one of the most versatile bands around at the moment. See the video for ‘Sea of Fog’ here:http://www.vimeo.com/48353356

The band already have a burgeoning reputation as a captivating live band, with the charismatic Jenny mesmerising the audience with her voice and beauty. They’ve already played with the likes of Florence and The Machine and Dizzee Rascal, and will
perform at this year’s Secret Garden Party and Blissfields.